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79
quences, such as this does. In such a case an inquest is
called for; and it seems very extraordinary that the
Coroner should be invested with the power of pronouncing
upon a case without the aid of a legally constituted jury.
Two deaths were registered from information derived from
an unqualified Medical practitioner. It is surely due to
the position and dignity of the Medical profession that its
rights should be safeguarded, and with them the safety
of the community, by the refusal of the Legislature to
recognise certificates of death from persons who practise
without a legal qualification, especially when there is
qualified Medical attendance at the call even of the
humblest pauper.
Sanitary Proceedings, &c.—A useful guide to the
sanitary labours of the year may be found in the last
Table of the Appendix. It is pleasant to record the
gradual weeding out of the cesspool system of drainage.
We cannot but rejoice, too, over the demise of another
piggery, raising, as it does, the distant hope that ere long
we may banish the ill-favoured animals from city and
suburbs. Appeals to the magistrate still diminish,
a hopeful sign of increasing sanitary knowledge and
tractability.
In connection with the sanitary work of the District it
is only right that I should here express my thanks to
the Surveyor for his hearty co-operation and valuable
assistance in all sanitary matters in which we have come
in contact.
The Slaughter and Cow-houses received their annual
inspection during the year. The former, happily, prove
each year more conclusively the wisdom and practical
value of the regulations imposed upon their keepers. In
no case, even in crowded localities, was there any complaint,
or cause of complaint. But with regard to the
Cow-houses, though we have no very bad example in this
Sub-district, there is reason for desiring a similar set ot